Relationship Between Postinterview Correspondence From Residency Program Applicants and Subsequent Applicant Match...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Residency Matching
• Applicant Communication

Background:

• Postinterview communication from residency applicants is a common practice.
• Previous studies suggest this communication may influence NRMP rank order list placement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between postinterview correspondence and an applicant's rank on a residency program's list.
• To determine if applicant communication impacts their final placement in the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP).

Main Methods:

• Collected postinterview correspondence from applicants over two recruitment seasons.
• Compared applicant characteristics, correspondence content, and timing with their rank list position.
• Utilized Pearson chi-squared test for data analysis.

Main Results:

• 61.7% of interviewed applicants sent postinterview correspondence.
• No significant difference in rank list position was found between applicants who corresponded and those who did not.
• Applicants stating intent to rank the program first or highly were not ranked higher than other corresponding applicants.

Conclusions:

• Postinterview correspondence is not associated with an applicant's rank order list position.
• Such communication does not benefit applicants and may result in misleading statements.
• Misleading statements in correspondence could violate NRMP participation agreements.